History: Linda Curtis, 1920-2002, was born as Winnifred Adshead in Calgary, Alberta, and was raised in Didsbury. In 1938 she attended secretarial school in Calgary, and the following year moved to Ottawa and then Toronto where she began a writing career with CBC Radio and as a freelance writer for Maclean's and other magazines. She often used the nom-de-plume of Linda Bruce. It was in Ontario that she met Dick Curtis. She returned to Calgary in 1947 and began a long career with The Albertan newspaper as a reporter and columnist. In 1951 she and Dick married in Calgary. They had no children. In 1982 she began writing for the Calgary Herald, retiring in 1991. Dixon Stewart Curtis, 1916-1993, was born in Toronto, Ontario as Duer Selly Cranstoun. He officially changed his name in 1941. He was a news reporter and radio writer in Ottawa, and in the late 1940s moved to Calgary where he ran Curtis Studios, a photographic business, from 1949 to 1956. He subsequently worked briefly in real estate, headed the Chinook Olympic Club in its unsuccessful attempt to build a sports and social club in Calgary, and planned, again unsuccessfully, to establish a summer camp for children. He taught swimming lessons and coached several sports teams. Over the years he continued his work as a photographer, and often took the photographs which accompanied Linda's articles in various journals.

Scope and Content: The fonds consists of Linda's extensive writings (articles, columns and scripts) produced for magazines, newspapers and radio (1943-1984), a small amount of her personal papers, and miscellaneous papers related to the Adshead family. The fonds also consists of Dick's records related to his business activities, including Curtis Studios (1949-1956), real estate, Chinook Olympic Club (1960-1962), and Fun in the Sun camps (1955-1974). Also includes photographs and slides taken by Dick for Curtis Studios clients, related to his swimming classes, and to accompany writings by Linda (1940s-1980s).